The technical field of this invention is electronic communication systems and, in particular, systems for locating and/or retrieving objects by electromagnetic interrogation of a spatial region to detect the presence (or absence) of an object.
Searching for possessions, tools and other objects is often a time-consuming task. Since the beginning of history, people have sought to solve this problem in many ways by devising implements to help keep track of useful objects. For example, one of the earliest metal implements devised by man was the bell, used by shepherds and other handlers of animals to locate their flocks or herds. As civilization has developed, so has the need for locating and identifying useful objects or possessions. Modern society faces an unparalleled proliferation of personal and business objects, many of which are either visually indistinguishable from each other or are difficult to examine readily. Examples of such objects include office files, business inventory, retail merchandise, luggage, freight and other commercial or personal items.
Office files are a particularly perplexing problem since it is common for more than one individual to work on a file, e.g., to add papers, make notations or otherwise review and/or revise the file""s contents. Office productivity is lost whenever a file is misplaced or can not be located. Accuracy and efficiency are also lost whenever papers can not be placed into an appropriate file in a timely fashion.
Another area where tracking of objects is of critical importance is in shipping, where packages destined for diverse locations must be stored and then routed to particular carriers or vehicles. This problem is particularly acute in luggage handling where lost articles of luggage can be especially vexing to passengers. At present, visual tags are used to identify the destination of luggage. However, there is no simple way to verify if all the luggage intended for a particular destination has been loaded on the proper carrier, and it is difficult, even with visual tags, to find misplaced or misrouted items of luggage.
Similarly, the management of retail items, such as clothing, or stock parts for manufacturing purposes often requires inventory-taking. If an item can not be located, e.g., an article of clothing in a particular size or a manufacturing part of particular characteristics, then a sale is lost or a manufacturing order goes unfilled. Moreover, the business manager may order supplemental items, not knowing that a supply exists on the premises in some unidentified location.
Recently, a number of electronic finding aids have been developed. For example, many cordless telephones now come equipped with a radio receiver to assist in their location in event that the telephone headset is misplaced. A transmitter incorporated into the charger/line interface module emits a signal that causes the headset to ring when a button is activated on the interface module. Similarly, the problem of lost keys can sometimes be remedied by a key chain tag which generates an alarm in response to certain sonic signals, such as a sharp whistle or a loud slap.
Unfortunately, conventional electronic finding aids are not capable of tracking large inventories or large numbers of files. In many cases, the simplicity of the finding aid system (e.g., the nature of the transmission signal or the receiver) makes it impossible to distinguish one object from another. In other cases, the overlap of signals from various sources causes too much interference when a plurality of objects need to be located. There exists a need for better electronic location systems, particularly systems that can accommodate the tracking of large numbers of files, items of inventory or the like.
There also exists a need for systems and methods that would permit automatic inventory-taking of files or merchandise on a regular basis (e.g. daily or on another periodic basis), as well as permit immediate or real time location and retrieval of objects in diverse environments.
Moreover, simple systems for locating and/or retrieving objects which can be incorporated into a conventional office or commercial data processing or communications infrastructure would likewise enhance efficiency while also achieving a cost economy as a result of integration with existing hardware and/or software.
Methods and apparatus are disclosed for location of objects to facilitate retrieval, filing, inventory stock-keeping, security and the like. The methods and apparatus employ a tag element associated with each object to be located, and an interrogation system for searching one or more spatial regions, as well as mechanisms for identifying objects within the interrogated region.
In one simple embodiment suitable, for example, for inventory control and security purposes, the tag element can be a electromagnetic antenna and/or signal receiver which responds either passively or actively to announce the presence (or absence) of an object within a controlled region defined by a broadcasted electromagnetic interrogation signal, e.g., a low power radio or microwave frequency electromagnetic radiation (EMR) transmission, or a time-varying magnetic field.
In one aspect of the invention, the tags can include a coding mechanism for uniquely defining particular objects, thereby facilitating location (and retrieval, if desired) of one or more desired objects from a plurality of objects present within an interrogated region (e.g., an office, file room, retail floor display or stockroom). This embodiment is particularly useful, for example, in locating specific files within an office or other workplace environment, in locating merchandise within a store, or in locating specific stock within a warehouse or stockyard.
One or more interrogation signal generators, or search beacons, can be used to search each interrogation region. The beacons can be simple electromagnetic field generators (e.g., radio transmitters or magnetic field coils) which merely cause a specific tag to respond, or they can be more complex. In one preferred embodiment, the beacons can be constructed as transceivers (or operated in conjunction with a set of distributed receivers) to both transmit an interrogation signal and receive a responsive signal, echo, or otherwise sense a field perturbation, indicating the presence of a specific tagged item within the interrogation region.
Moreover, the beacons can poll the various regions for all tagged items and then take a census of each region""s contents. When serving in a census-taking role, the beacons can cooperate with a master controller to report the census results and, thereby, construct a master census of all tagged items within the controlled system. This aspect of the invention is particularly useful in office environments, for example, where files are often moved during the course of a day. An individual seeking access to a file need only consult the master controller for the last known location of the file. This aspect of the invention is also useful in keeping track of parcels, freight or baggage during transit. By conducting censuses on a periodic basis, e.g., at the beginning of a day and hourly during the course of business, the location of all tagged items can be readily tracked.
In a further aspect of the invention, systems and methods are disclosed whereby a user can interactively request the location of an object, and a controller can check stored census data to determine the last known location of the object. The system can then interrogate the region of the last known location to verify that the object is still there. If the object is found at the same location, the user is immediately notified. If the object is not found at its last census location, other regions can be polled either globally or on a region-by-region basis to locate the object. The user is then notified of the new location and the census is updated either entirely or partially based on the search protocol chosen.
The tag coding mechanism can take a variety of forms. For example a resonant circuit can be employed which responds to a predefined sequence of electromagnetic radiation, e.g., radio waves or the like, by transmitting a responsive signal to indicate the object""s presence within the interrogation region. The resonant circuit can take the form of a tapped delay line or tank circuit which resonates, accumulates or amplifies an electronic signal in response to a specific frequency of radiation (or modulation pattern) in a broadcasted interrogation signal. In another embodiment, a reflecting delay line can be constructed employing a piezoelectric reflector to receive and/or retransmit electromagnetic radiation. In yet another embodiment, the tag elements can incorporate a magnetic material, for example, a ferromagnetic marker or the like, which interacts with a time varying magnetic field in such a way as to perturb the magnetic field and, thereby, announce the item""s presence within the interrogated region.
By transmitting a programmed interrogation signal which has a specific code, e.g. a signal modulated with a particular time-varying frequency or amplitude pattern, which matches the code of one tag element (or a subset of the tags), the present invention ensures that only one tagged object (or only one class of tagged objects) will respond, thereby permitting a user to search for, and locate, specific objects.
The interrogation signal can be implemented by low power, safe, high frequency radio waves, such as broadcast frequency signals in the range of about 10 kHz to about 1000 MHz, or similar low power, safe, microwave signals in the range from about 1000 MHz to about 2200 MHz. Frequencies allocated by the FCC for industrial, scientific and medical purposes, which may be useful in implementing the present invention, include the 5 MHz, 13.5 MHz, 27 MHz, 40 MHz, 49 MHz, 132 MHz and 905 MHz bands. In one embodiment, the invention can be implemented using one or more of the specific frequencies allocated by the FCC within the 49 MHz band which support and permit digitally encoded transmissions. Alternatively, digital signal transmissions within the 900 MHz band can be employed. Various other frequencies can also be employed in accordance with FCC and other regulations. The term xe2x80x9cradio frequencyxe2x80x9d as used herein is intended to broadly encompass electromagnetic radiation at frequencies ranging from about 104 Hz to about 1014 Hz, including both conventional broadcast and microwave signals.
Modulated magnetic fields can also be used in certain applications. For example, the interrogation means can generate a magnetic field of about 0.01 Oersteds to about 1.0 Oersted modulated at a frequency ranging from about 0.1 kHz to about 100 kHz to interact with coded ferromagnetic tag elements and, thereby, indicated the presence of tagged objects within the interrogation region. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9celectromagnetic signalxe2x80x9d is intended to encompass both electromagnetic radiation transmissions and time-varying magnetic fields.
Alternatively, the broadcast signal can be fixed waveform, e.g., a selected frequency or modulation pattern which induces different responses by particular tag elements, which are sensed by a receiver which is not associated with the tag but located within the interrogation region, thereby allowing the user to poll controlled premises (or smaller spatial regions, such as individual offices, storerooms, or filerooms) in order to inventory the contents of such premises or regions, or to identify a particular item by its characteristic response. In such an embodiment, a predefined (e.g., fixed or swept) frequency interrogation signal, for example, having a frequency ranging from 1500 to about 2500 kHz can be employed with a series of uniquely coded resonant tag elements. In one approach, the tags are distinguishable by differences in their capacitance and/or inductance, resulting in distinctive xe2x80x9csignaturesxe2x80x9d when they resonate in response to the interrogation signal. In this embodiment, a monitor situated in each controlled spatial region recognizes each response to an interrogation signal and determines from the response (e.g., an electromagnetic echo signal or field perturbation) that certain controlled objects are present (or absent). In addition to the responsive signal which is communicated to an electronic monitor or receiver, the tag can be constructed to emit an audible signal which informs nearby individuals that a search request has been initiated.
Thus, the present invention can perform as an electronic watchman in which a plurality of individual transceivers, or systems of transmitters and monitors, serve as beacons to generate search signals within certain regions and as monitors to receive signals back which identify the tagged objects within the interrogated zone. Distributed beacons can be activated either or all at once or sequentially, and preferably are in communication either with each other or with a central controller for periodic census-taking. For example, such a system can be used to conduct a general census at the end of business (or the beginning of a work shift). Alternatively, periodic interrogations can be conducted throughout a workday (e.g., once every hour or other predefined time period) to provide an updated census of inventory, files or other tagged items. Preferably, the system can also provide for a user-initiated search at other times and thereby generate a current location census whenever a need for such arises.
In the context of office files, such a system represents a significant improvement over prior art systems that rely upon either manually-maintained records (such as sign-out cards) or bar-code type systems that likewise require individuals to process a file (e.g., by xe2x80x9cwandingxe2x80x9d it with a bar code reader) each time it is moved from one location to another. In the context of luggage tracking, the present invention represents a significant improvement in that it permits luggage handlers to verify that all luggage in a particular lot or location share a common destination (or route leg) and in at least some embodiments also allows the user to determine the number of pieces in a shipment and to initiate a search for lost items. Various other work environments, besides offices and transportation facilities, also can benefit from the present invention. For example, libraries where management of circulating collections is desired, or manufacturing facilities, where work-in-progress needs to be tracked, can likewise employ the present invention.
In a simple embodiment, the present invention can be used in conjunction with conventional tracking systems, such as manual, bar-coded or xe2x80x9cwandedxe2x80x9d location control systems, as a mechanism for alerting users that an article has not been properly logged in (or logged out). For example, a parcel or other object which is assigned to particular location can be tagged with a device according to the present invention which will beep or otherwise trigger an auditory signal if the article is removed without being re-coded for a new location.
Alternatively, the tags can be constructed to remain silent so long as they do not pass into a specific interrogation zone. Thus, a parcel or luggage item can be tagged to ensure that it does not leave the shipping dock without proper dispatch and, similarly, does not get routed to the wrong carrier or storage area. Such a system would likewise be useful in controlling the release of merchandise from a stockroom or files from a central filing area.
In another alternative embodiment, a predefined time delay can be established before the locating device is re-armed whenever it is coded for transfer. So long as the tagged object arrives at the intended destination within the predefined delay period, the alarm will not be activated. However, if the object is misplaced enroute, or delivered to the wrong destination, the alarm will be triggered when the delay period runs out. In yet another variation, the tag can be temporarily deactivated for transfer without pre-coding any new destination, thereby allowing a carrier a limited period of time to deliver an object to a new location. Once the object has been delivered, it can be logged in and the alarm would be deactivated.
More generally, the present invention encompasses systems that provide a signal whenever a tagged item is found in an area where its presence has not been preauthorized. If the tag""s alarm is triggered, a responsible party can return the object to an authorized location, or override the alarm, for example, by reprogramming the tag to authorize a new destination. Such reprogramming can be performed at the original location (or any available intermediary waystation) or the user can proceed to the new location to log in the transfer.
In another embodiment, various users can be allowed access to the general census data to determine the location of files, luggage, collections or other tagged objects. In such embodiments, the electronic watchman functions of the invention can be integrated into (or otherwise linked to) existing office hardware such as networked personal computers (e.g. via an electronic mail subroutine or a separate application program) or telephones to permit a user to find a file or the like by reference to the last census (or to initiate a new search for a tagged object). Alternatively, such user interface elements can be stand-alone hardware devices which are situated in individual offices or other locations within the controlled region to provide ready access to the census and/or search facilities of the system. In either embodiment, the distributed poll-taking elements can be employed not only to detect the presence of a particular tagged item but also to alert nearby persons (e.g., office occupants, luggage handlers, shipping dispatchers, retail clerks or stockroom personnel) that a request has been made for determination of the location of the item.
While such search facilities simply can be activated by a keypad or xe2x80x9cmouse-likexe2x80x9d hand tool (usually in conjunction with a display screen), in another aspect of the invention, search operations can be initiated by voice-driven speech-recognition systems. The system can also respond in an audible fashion regardless of the form in which the search is initiated and thereby provide an inquirer with an oral report on the location of a file or more detailed information on its status (such as for example the length of time it has been in its present location) in response to an inquiry.
In yet another embodiment, the present invention can be employed as a system for controlling and locating inventory, especially retail items such as clothing. In many retail establishments, items for sale are already tagged with antipilferage devices. The tag elements of the present invention can be substituted for such antipilferage devices to permit not only protection from theft but also a capability for electronic inventory-taking and ready location of objects with particular attributes, e.g., specific colors, styles, or sizes of such items.
For example, clothing stores can employ the present invention to tag articles of merchandise according to a code that specifies at least attribute of the clothing or accessory item. When the customer requests an item in a different color or size, the tore clerk need only activate the search beacon to generate an interrogation signal and determine whether such an item having the coded characteristic is in stock. If the item is in stock, the search signal can simultaneously or subsequently activate an audible sound generator associated with, or incorporated into the tag, to permit rapid retrieval. Moreover, the system can be used in a census taking mode on a daily basis to check inventory against sale and alert the management to items that missing but unaccounted for as sales.
In another aspect of the invention, the tags can be constructed as transponders designed to receive a broadcasted interrogation signal either within a region or throughout a controlled system. The tag can be xe2x80x9ctunedxe2x80x9d to a search request or can further include means for comparing the transmitted search request with its own identification code and, if a match is determined, a responsive signal is generated by the tag to announce the location of the item.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the tag elements can be passive transducers, or powered by an alternative energy source such as a solar cell or a motion-activated dynamo to provide a source of electrical power which is largely or completely independent of conventional batteries. Such power sources can be used to generate a responsive electromagnetic signal or trigger an audible signal and thereby aid in manual location and retrieval of the tagged object.
The invention will next be described in connection with certain preferred embodiment. However, it should be clear that various changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.